Tourism. Trends. Tactics. Technology.

February 21, 2019

A few weeks ago, our friends at Destination Analysts released preliminary findings on the State of the American Traveler. One of the findings was shocking, given the relative strength of the economy: At this time last year, nearly two-thirds of American leisure travelers (65.3%) said that leisure travel would be at least a “somewhat high priority.” This year, the corresponding figure has sharply dropped to 59.6 percent.

Why are we less inclined to do what we've always said we want to do? Is it because travel isn't as much fun anymore?

Are consumers beginning to decide, with their brand new gazillion pixel flat screen TV, to curtain their love of travel in favor of experiencing the world in 4K with 360 sound? I mean, what the hell? All the hassles are mitigated. They don’t hafta sit nexta someone on a plane that should have purchased two seats and a bar of soap sometime in the last two weeks. They no longer are at the mercy of hotels that gave their room away and now must walk them half the city away at 10pm when they are tired and cranky. And, they don’t hafta endure self-absorbed assholes that bogart the view or use their mobile devices like walkie-talkies so everyone within a block can hear their sensationally unimportant conversation.

Why not just curl up, call up GOusaTV or any number of channels…and see the world from their Barcalounger?

Yeah but, they then won’t experience the world.

Let's keep that in mind as we create the stories and experiences to get them off the couch.

January 10, 2019

How do you counter the perception that your destination is undesirable? It's the voice of the client.

Discover Puerto Rico recently invited professional meeting planners to tour their event facilities. They found exactly what we found when we visited. The urban center of the island is back...and better than ever.

December 04, 2018

We're also big fans of Rockford IL...and were before it was cool to be. We saw the spark years before the media figured it out.

Those two forces recently collided when Arnie took a misinformed swipe at Rockford, basing his opinion on a particularly cruel and absolutely unnecessary 2013 Forbes article calling the city the third most miserable place in America. Rockford's response was masterful...but Arnie clearly hadn't seen it.

August 29, 2018

A number of destinations suffer from a generally accepted image, often perpetrated by the media or lifelong local curmudgeons, that is far less flattering than one would like. And, most DMOs respond with a blind eye to the negative brand and attempt to simply counter with a positive message. And, I get that.

But, what turns my head is the acknowledgement of a destination's challenge...and a bold response to challenge that perception. Discover Puerto Rico went viral when they did it a week ago. Destination DC just did it with the simply sensational "Discover the Real DC" campaign.

April 27, 2018

Brand USA is the Destination Marketing Organization for America. Each year, they feature this country through a thematic lens. Last year it was in celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the National Park Service. This year, it's the Music that makes America America.

March 29, 2018

In a fascinating piece on eMarketer Retail, Krista Garcia crunches the numbers and finds that Toys "R" Us wasn't hurt by Amazon as much as they were by Target and Wal-Mart: "Toys "R" Us buyers were less likely to purchase on Amazon than toy buyers in general and more likely to buy on both Walmart and Target (46.8% vs 38.6%)."

Her analysis holds that there is still room for specialty big-box retailers (like Best Buy)...but that the debt Toys "R" Us had accumulated prevented them from transitioning to a Best Buy strategy of becoming a "showroom" for product.